NanoBlog

The NSF along with the ASME, IEEE, and E4C hosted the Research in Materials and Manufacturing for Extreme Affordability Workshop on March 18-19, 2011, but archive has been posted. I've only had a chance to see one talk by Amy Smith from MIT and found it very interesting. They have found that the cheapest and simplest device or machine turns out to be the most efficient as well. This I did not expect.

Agilent Technologies is hosting four nanotechnology webinars including

• Mar 22, 2011 10:00 am Oliver & Pharr: The Strange New world
• Mar 30, 2011 10:00 am New Cantilevers for Basic & Advanced AFM
• Apr 05, 2011 11:00 am Exclusive New Thin Film Method
• Apr 07, 2011 10:00 am "A Double Feature for Film Buffs”

Keithley Instruments is hosting a webinar on Mastering Low Power, Low Voltage, Low Resistance Measurement Techniques for Characterizing Graphene and Other Nano Materials. The webinar begins on Thursday March 24, 2011 at 10 AM EDT.

The World Science festival will be held June 1-5, 2011 in NYC and the tickets go on sale April 28. You can check out talks from last years festival at WSF.tv

I'm enjoying Brian Greene's new book Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos on my Kindle. You can see an interview with professor Greene on The Science Network discussing various aspects of the many multiverse theories described in his book. I enjoyed the interview but wished the interviewer asked more specific questions about the physics about some of the theories. I'm a more than bit fuzzy about how information content in a black hole is related to the surface area of the black hole, for example.

Harvard researcher Shawn Douglas and artist Jason Brown have produce a nicely done short animated film describing bionanotechnology called What is Bionanotechnology. The DNA origami tools described in the film are available and open source.

The IOP Science journal Semiconductor Science and Technology is out with a special issue on nanowires and it's presently open access.

The journal of Nano Communication Networks has a special issue on Biological Information and Communication Technology due out soon and many of the articles in the current issue are presently open access.

The Journal of Nanotechnology Research is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal and is associated with the Society of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The honorary editor of the journal and president of the society is Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Harold W Kroto.

Nanotechnology has been the center of many green technologies and in the past many old industries have considered green technology a cost center. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has produced a new report showing that green technology contributes to economic growth. Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication is now available on-line.